The Importance of Sleep
A new study indicates that older women who sleep more poorly are about three times more likely to end up in a nursing home than those who sleep better. Amongst older people, sleep is sometime hard to get, and this study reveals a link between fragmented sleep patterns and placement in institutionalized care. To be clearer, sleep duration was not the indicator here, but rather fragmented sleep.
A lack of sufficient sleep is associated with the development of a number of diseases and conditions. Diabetes, depression, cardiovascular disease, and obesity are all linked to insufficient sleep, so it has been known for quite a while that sleep is extremely important. There is also a high correlation between disturbed sleep and the occurrence of disability and impairment in regards to the activities of daily living€"especially mobility.
This is the first study of its kind that actually used objective sleep data. In the past, sleep patterns were measured by questionnaire, and while a tenuous link between a lack of sufficient sleep and placement in an institution was suspected, there wasn't as much hard evidence. This current study used wrist monitors that tracked movement. When someone was obviously getting in and out of bed often in the middle of the night, this was recorded and marked as fragmented sleep.
The researchers maintain that this is merely an observational study and not one that looks into causality. Why sleep disturbance and the placement in nursing homes are connected, no one is quite certain, but there does appear to be an alarming trend here.
There was also no indication of whether sleep aids would help prevent nursing home visits. If this were to be the case, it seems like this problem could be avoided in at least some cases.
One theory about why this is is that sleep allows people's immune systems to recharge. When the amount of sleep forbids this from happening, people are more likely to get sick and suffer from these diseases.
There was also a correlation between these things and assisted living. This data might not be as reliable as the nursing home data since more and more people are entering assisted living without serious health problems. Instead, assisted living is becoming more of a way for people to retire comfortably while having a safety net in place just in case something were to happen to them. Therefore, data that increases someone's chances of going into an assisted living facility is going to be necessarily flawed.
Nonetheless, sleep is very important. Rather than allowing yourself to suffer from poor sleeping patterns, see a specialist and get help. There's no guarantee that this will be helpful in avoiding a nursing home visit, but it will certainly improve your quality of life.
A lack of sufficient sleep is associated with the development of a number of diseases and conditions. Diabetes, depression, cardiovascular disease, and obesity are all linked to insufficient sleep, so it has been known for quite a while that sleep is extremely important. There is also a high correlation between disturbed sleep and the occurrence of disability and impairment in regards to the activities of daily living€"especially mobility.
This is the first study of its kind that actually used objective sleep data. In the past, sleep patterns were measured by questionnaire, and while a tenuous link between a lack of sufficient sleep and placement in an institution was suspected, there wasn't as much hard evidence. This current study used wrist monitors that tracked movement. When someone was obviously getting in and out of bed often in the middle of the night, this was recorded and marked as fragmented sleep.
The researchers maintain that this is merely an observational study and not one that looks into causality. Why sleep disturbance and the placement in nursing homes are connected, no one is quite certain, but there does appear to be an alarming trend here.
There was also no indication of whether sleep aids would help prevent nursing home visits. If this were to be the case, it seems like this problem could be avoided in at least some cases.
One theory about why this is is that sleep allows people's immune systems to recharge. When the amount of sleep forbids this from happening, people are more likely to get sick and suffer from these diseases.
There was also a correlation between these things and assisted living. This data might not be as reliable as the nursing home data since more and more people are entering assisted living without serious health problems. Instead, assisted living is becoming more of a way for people to retire comfortably while having a safety net in place just in case something were to happen to them. Therefore, data that increases someone's chances of going into an assisted living facility is going to be necessarily flawed.
Nonetheless, sleep is very important. Rather than allowing yourself to suffer from poor sleeping patterns, see a specialist and get help. There's no guarantee that this will be helpful in avoiding a nursing home visit, but it will certainly improve your quality of life.
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